a libretto for the comic opera of my life

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One of Four

Welcome to Friday Fictioneers! I am making a late entry due to a medical emergency last Friday. Please forgive my tardiness. I am beginning to recover to my normal state of decrepitude, and will meet with the surgeon tomorrow to discuss what I hope will be a brighter future!

One of Four

by Jan Brown

ZZ Top would have called him a “sharp dressed man,” with his blindingly white pressed shirt and bow tie, his gray hair neatly coifed. I imagined what his regal face and athletic body would have looked like 50-60 years ago. I felt a chill climb up my spine as I realized who he was.

Back in the day, he was an ordinary student—but extraordinary for his protest. He and his friends started a movement amongst other “ordinary” folks who were tired of visiting restaurants where African Americans could not be served.

I wondered, are LGBTQ welcome now?

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Word Count: 98

David Richmond (from left), Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil leave the Woolworth in Greensboro, N.C., where they initiated a lunch-counter sit-in to protest segregation, Feb. 1, 1960. (No photographers were allowed into the store on the first day of protest.) Photo credit: Jack Moebes/Corbis (via npr.org)

The February One Monument on the Campus of North Carolina A&T State University, honoring the Greensboro Four–Photo via Wikipedia, public domain

Those men were courageous and have my undying admiration. It’s a different world due to the likes of them. Wonderful writing.
An anecdote I’ll share with you. My dad owned a little diner type restaurant in downtown KC the late 1950’s to early 60’s. When criticized for catering to blacks, my dear old dad opened his register and pulled out a wad of bills. “These are green.”
Consequently, many of his customers were also our friends.
Hope things are looking up for you physically. Better late than never. 😉